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Offender Learning

NOCN and Employability and Life Skills for Offenders

The National Open College Network working in partnership with our network OCNs have had a long association with offender learning and its accreditation. Our flexible courses and qualifications that can be adjusted to fit the context have been both welcomed and widely used within the offender learning environment.

The unitised structure of our qualifications provides small packages of learning that can be delivered in limited time frames. In the prison context, where transfers in and out are a daily occurrence, the use of NOCN qualifications to certificate small chunks of learning reduces the risk of offenders moving on without receiving certification of the skills they have developed. The extensive use of NOCN qualifications in custody also allows continuity and means they do not have to repeat learning but instead, build on what they have already achieved.

The NOCN qualifications currently used for offender learners include: Qualifications in Progression, ESOL Skills for Life, Functional Skills, Employability and qualifications in the areas of Art and Design, Economic Wellbeing and Financial Capability and Personal Wellbeing.

The NOCN Qualifications in Progression are ideal for the offender learning environment. These qualifications are approved by the regulators, are on The Register of Regulated Qualifications and are eligible for LARA funding in England and funding in Wales and Northern Ireland. They are available in Award, Certificate and Diploma size and at four levels (Entry 3, Levels 1, 2 and 3). They provide a unit and credit based offer that can be used to support the development of employability skills and progression into further training as well as literacy and numeracy development. With generic work skills and specific vocationally based preparatory units these qualifications are proving useful in giving learners the confidence to move forward in their chosen areas. The qualifications also provide evidence to employers of the skills they have developed, their commitment to learn and their work-readiness.

The NOCN Qualifications in Progression are already widely used to recognise the learning that is delivered through Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) contracts, as well as the skills offenders develop in the industries, workshops and other “out of scope” areas in prisons. Through the Probation Service the qualifications are used with offenders completing community sentences (unpaid work) where they acquire important and useful vocationally-related skills through community-focused activities that can then help boost their employability.

A rapid turnaround system of registration and certification for offender learning providers ensures that credit certificates and transcripts are issued promptly and learners receive immediate recognition for their achievements.

The use of a national system that encompasses local/regional responsiveness is invaluable. There are named experts in the OCNs who are available to offer support for practitioners. This extends beyond curriculum advice to the provision of staff development in areas of assessment, quality assurance and standardisation. The lead for this is Graham Hasting-Evans, Managing Director at NOCN; please contact him for more details at on 0114 2270500.